The Ancient Magus' Bride Episode 5 Review: Love conquers all.

The Ancient Magus’ Bride ended with a cliffhanger last week, and it wasn’t on a really good note. In this episode, we found out what Chise decided on regarding Elias, the sorcerers, and the corruption she has to expel! It was another beautiful episode, visually and story-wise.

Plot

Even after hearing that Elias has been keeping secrets from her, Chise decided to stay with him because he is the only person who puts value on her. Hence, she continued on with the task at hand that had been interrupted by the sorcerers: removing the rot threatening the kingdom of the cats. However, the core of it, Mina, first showed her the truth of what happened to her and her husband, which greatly affected Chise’s course of action.

Episode Highlights

Trust: It’s amazing how attached Chise got to Elias! Normally, one would feel betrayed if a friend kept a really important secret from them, especially if it’s about their death! However, going by the girl’s response, she faced much worse treatment before and she views Elias as a breath of fresh air. Even if he lied about saying she’s family, he still said it, and that spoke volumes to her. I am hoping that after this debacle, he will no longer keep things from her, especially the truth about being a Sleigh Beggy. It’s about Chise, after all, so she should know the truth of her condition!

A trip to the past: Looks like expelling a corruption isn’t as simple as chanting a few words and presto voila, it’s gone! More so when it’s sentient! I thought that what we knew of Mina and Matthew’s story last week was already enough, but it turns out that there was more to it! And I’m grateful, because Matthew actually didn’t get the idea of killing cats on his own, nor did it come from Mina! They were both just victims of a sorcerer’s selfish experiment! Taking advantage of Matthew’s intense love for Mina to fulfill his plan, treating Mina as a lab rat, and then just casually brushing off the tragic failure like it was nothing, how inhumane can someone get! That sorcerer proved that most of his kind, if not all of them, are truly sketchy! Maybe that incident is why the cats don’t want sorcerers in their territory, huh? They also had to suffer, losing their fellow cats!

Send-off: Even after the two lovers died, they still had to suffer by being the corruption, so much that Mina just wished for them to be erased! I was so worried because, like Chise, I didn’t want that for the couple, especially since none of it was truly their fault. The second option wasn’t great either! I didn’t want Molly, that incredibly beautiful cat, to die and make her owner sad! But, it was so conflicting because her suggestion was much better than the first! That’s why it’s such a terrific thing that Chise came up with another way that could make everybody happy! Something as simple as dandelions floating away to become flowers again, it was really clever! She and the Ariel even conjured a beautiful place for Matthew and Mina to pass on peacefully! It reminded me of the scene when Nevin passed on as well. For someone who only thought of death as a grave thing, Chise managed to see to some really beautiful ones. But, what about her and her eventual demise?

Themes & Trivia

Love conquers all: ‘Omnia Vincit Amor ’ is the Latin phrase from where this quote came from. It was written by the Roman poet Virgil in one of his works, Eclogue X. The full version is ‘love conquers all things; let us, too, surrender to Love.’ Eventually, this part of the line caught on to other works like The Canterbury Tales, and a painting by Caravaggio.

Circle of Life: Some people believe that after they die, they will be reborn again, maybe as a new person, or maybe as a part of nature. This was probably what Mina meant when she spoke of going back to the cycle of life. Just as a plant’s seed grows into a new plant, so creatures, when they die, are born as a new creature.

Nemophila: Wasn’t the place filled with blue flowers really beautiful? Did you know that it exists in real life? In Japan, there’s a park where 4.5 million Nemophila, nicknamed baby blue eye flowers, grow every spring in Hitachi Seaside Park.

Comments

Always such a pleasure to watch stories that are emotionally riveting, don’t you agree? Especially when they are aided by beautiful art and music! Not only do they tug at your heartstrings, but it’s proof that you’re drawn in to the whole thing! It shows that the writing works and that the characters are endearing to the point that you empathize with them! I felt glad when Chise expressed her trust in Elias, devastated when Matthew saw Mina turn into a pile of goop, angry when the sorcerer played them all, afraid when Molly decided to sacrifice her last life, and relieved when Chise successfully freed the couple. Did you also experience all those emotions? Then it means that this episode was truly wonderful!

May you meet in the next life

Going by the preview, it looks like Chise collapsed again after using her magic! It also seems like they moved on to the next errand! What awaits them there, aside from that really busty lady who wants to meet Elias’ bride?

As always, let us know if you liked this episode, or if there were some things that were off for you! And maybe go read our other Fall 2017 anime reviews while you’re at it!!

NEXT: The Faerie Queene